License plate



March 28, 1933. o. H. ANDERSON LICENSE PLATE Filed Oct. 8, 1952 ly'onthe line n Patented Mar. 28, 1933 oLIvER H. ANDERSORQFSiIPERiOR;ARIZONA, ASSIGNOB; T siirnw mr,nu'ro LICENSE v sYs'rmnmcam CORPORATION 01 TENNESSEE,

' A 'LIc NsnrLn'rn a ncationimea ember is, 1932. Serial No." 636,915.

My: invention relates generallyto license plates, and the like,and-particularly to-autol mobile and similar. license-plates in.whichare-incorporated letters randffigu'res or numbers, indicating thecurrentyeanand othening formation v and more =particular1yl-icenseplates as described above wherein certain of, the letters; figures, ;ornumeralsare made ,re= I so'as'to void the movable and: replaceable; 3necessity and expense of, changing the-entire icense has been granted It.is an: important objectx of invention to provide means for changing andreplacing numerals; figures and other marks on ,license plates and thelike, whereby they are installed so as to r be removable :only 1 byfracture an defacement thereof; i I 1 It is alsovanimpor tion to providemeans as stated above-where in a seal is utilized-for connecting ,partswhich "must be separated in order toremove. or-replace the same, so thatimutilation. vor defacementof: some ofthe ,parts is required forthe 251removal thereofl'so, as is protect ag-ainstun? authorized use ofthenumeralsi and figuresand othermarksi I Y x r It is :also an importantobject-of vention to provide means for attaching su plate in'a secureand non-rattling nanner. 1 v

, Other objects and advantages 'of myainvention willbe apparent from areadingiof: the followingfdescript ion in Lconneetionv 355 drawing;wherein-for'purposes of i I have showna pref invention. 7 i s Inthedrawing; v e I V Figure'cl is a frontlvie'w 0m licensevplate 4incorporating the, features iofr the: i

Figure 2 is. a backlviewl of a, portion of; the license plate sholwn inzFigure, .1 indicating the 7 arrangement. of. the numben securing means fe 5 Figurefi is a transverse .vertical sectional View taken ,-.throughFigure 1 approximately:

illustration rred embodiment ,Offthg,

the sealing.meansiper lseytaken approxini late at the end of the term=for which the ,of providing for the. replacing numbers 8. a 1' r with,the,

nvention. 1

Figure-5 is a front. view of the sealing" .means.

Figure .6sis a frontyiew of one of the numbers.

Figure? is a transverse vertical sectional "line 7-7. r A

Referringin. detail toithe drawing. wherein like numerals 'refertolikezwpartsthrough-n out the same, the lnumeral5 refers generally ,to alicense plate formhav-ing the numerals.

:of and the year. designating numbers 7 One of the year :numbers, thatgenerally 7 referred f to bythenumeralB is, according to the prinsici'p'les of my invention constructed so ask) be speriodrtowhichmthe.yeardeSignating nume 1 tant, obj-ec t.of-n1yvinyem bersrelates. By, pro-vi dingutherlast of the:

Qyear numbers changeable andfreplaceable, a considerable cost is savedthe municipality,

sincehthe necessityto provide yearly for the i 1?? ViewthroughFig'ureifi approximately on the;

' or other characters 6- formed in the face thereremovable forreplacement-at the end of the replacement:of the entire license plate iselima, 1 inated andreduced tovthe much less expense x -These replaceablenumbers may be made.

the difliculty experienced by policemen and];

, luminousor of other'highvisibilitycharac= yjnier so as toincreasetheir prominence and mf visibility especially atanight sosas toreduces: V -"numerals, figures and marks to thelicense ;0ther'publicoflicers indistinguishi'ng the nature and-meaningofthe characterson license plates By providing thate-the replacing except by breakingordefacing the same, ,un

;numbers:8 of-non-detach-able once installed, the lawful usethereofefiectivelyprevented. Y

Inaccordance-with. my invention; the place' Qtion- 7 would ordinarilybe:placed-"is left blank. -1 Above andbelow this space theretare.

,wheretherlast number ofxthei year designa- @provided slots 9 andIOZrespectiVeIy to -re ceive portions 0 her 8 comprises nthe number 8.Thesnurn-t a plate nllyformed into the contour of the number-which it isto represent.

At the top of the number plate ll -is a tab .12-

which has a right angularlydirected portion 13 provided with .atransversely elongated slot 14; Depending from thel vlower part of thenumber plate 11 is an angularly .directed tab "15' p which joined t'othe -number platen 11 by a weakened portion 16 the purpose of which willsubsequently appear herein. Depending from the angularly directedportion 15 is a vertical portion 16 which is provided with verticallyspaced transversely elongated slots 18 and 19 respectively. I

As seen in Figure 3, the right angularly directed portion 13 is adaptedto pass through the upper slot 9 in the license plate, and the angularlydirected tab 15 is adapted to pass through the lower slot 10 in thelicense plate. In passing these portions of the number 8 into the slots9 and 10, the lower portion 16 ,is first passed through the lower slot1O followed by the angularly directed portion 15. When the portion 15approaches its final position, the right angularly directed upper tab 13may be passed through the upper slot 9 in the license plate.

Means for preventing the displacement of the tabs 13 and 15 from theopenings in the license plate, and for sealing the number 8 againstremoval and for requiring that the number 8 be mutilated or defaced toenable withdrawal therefrom comprises the sealing member generallydesignated 20. This comprises a casing 21 which is composed of the backwall 22 the bottom 23, the sides 24 and 25 and the lips 26 and 27. Itwill be observed that the back plate 22 extends considerably above thelips 26 and 27. The upper part of the back has projecting from the sidesthereof double bent tabs 28 and 29 which are produced by punching outportions 30 and 31 of the back plate 22.

Means for connecting the sealing member 20 with the license plate andwith the member 8 and for connecting them in non-removable manner,comprises the bowed spring 32 which has the reduced lower portion 33which has at its lower end an angularly directed portion 34. The mainportion of the spring member 32 is held against the back plate by thetabs 28and 29 as seen inthe drawing, in such a manner that the reducedportion 33 depends between the inner ed es of the lips 26. 27 as shownin Figure 5.

As seen in Figure 3, the member 8 having been passed into the slots 9,10, with the upper reduced portion 35 of the spring 32 then entered inthe opening 14 in the upper tab 13 of the number plate 8, and the lowermember 16 in a position to be engaged by the angularly directed lowerportion 34 of the re duced portion of the spring member 32, theangularly directed portion 34- will engage in one of the openings 18, 19in the depending portion 16 of the number 8. Accompanying this is aflattening of the spring member 32 as indicated in Figure 3, which holdsthe casing 22 against the back of the license'plate and draws the numberplate 8 against the. front of the license plate, and at the same,

time prevents vertical movement of the depending portion 17 of thenumber plate by Virtue of the engagement of the lower portion of thespring member in one of the openings 18, 19.

It will be observed that the tension of the spring member 32 issuliicient to forcibly engage the respective parts so that anon-rattling and non-shifting relation of the number plate 8 with thelicense plate is achieved and maintained permanently.

It will be observed that while it may be quite a simple matterto springthe upper reduced portion 35 of the spring member out of engagement withthe upper tab 13 of the number plate 8, any-displacement of the numberplate 8 after having been assembled to the license plate in the mannerdescribed will cause bending at the weakened portion 16 and cause afracture at this point and thereby disclose that the plate has beentampered with. In most cases, the number plate ivill break off at thepoint 16v and become'useess.

It will be observed as in Figure 4 that when the spring member is in itsnormal position it is bowed away from the back of the license plate butwhen assembled with the number plate 8 is flattened out against the backof the license plate as indicated at 36 in Figure 3. The number plate 8may be formed of some alloy material'which permits of bending the samein one'direction only without fracture, so that any attempt to displacethe same from the position exemplified in Figure 3 will result inbreaking the same at the point 16, if not at other points.

Though I have shown and described herein a preferred embodiment of theinvention, it is to be definitely .understood that I do not desire-tolimit the application of the invention thereto, and any change orchanges may be made in material and structure and arrangement of partswithin the spirit of the invention, and the. scope of the subjoinedclaims Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is: V

1. A license plate or the like comprising a plate having charactersthereon, openings in the plate adjacent one or more of the characters, acharacter platehaving portions receivable through the openings so as toposition the character plate in relation to the other characters, andspring means engaged with the back of theplate and having portionsoffset away from the back of the plate for engaging "the portions of thecharacter plate which are extended through the openings, for holding thecharacter plate in place.

2. A license plate or the like comprising a plate having charactersthereon, openings in the plate adjacent one or more of the characters, acharacter plate having portions receivable through the openings so as toposition the character plate in relation to the other characters, andspring means engaged with the back of the plate for engaging theportions of the character plate which are extended through the openings,for holding the character plate in place, and seal means nonremovablyconnecting the character plate and the spring means.

3. A license plate or the like comprising a plate having charactersthereon, openings in the plate adjacent one or more of the characters, acharacter plate having portions receivable through the openings so as toposition the character plate in relation to the other characters, andspring means engaged with the back of the plate for engaging theportions of the character plate which are extended through the openings,for holding the character plate in place, and seal means non-removablyconnecting the character plate 'and the spring means, said seal meansbeing located at the back of the plate.

4:. In combination, a body having openings therethrough, a designationplate for attachment to the body, portions on the designation plate forpassing through openings in the body, and means engaged with the back ofthe body and with the portions of the designation plate for securing thesame in position,'and seal means connecting said means and thedesignation plate for non-removably assembling the same.

5. A license plate comprising a plate having a pair of openings therein,a number pi ate having a pair of tabs thereon, each tab having anopening therein, and being receivable through one of the openings in theplate, and spring means engageable with the back of the plate andengageable with the openings in the tabs, and means carried by thespring means for engaging the back of the license plate and confiningsaid spring means engaged with the aperture of one of the tabs so thatmovement of separation of the spring means from engagement with theopening in the last mentioned tab is positively prevented, and removalof the number plate rendered impossible Without mutilating the same.

6. A body having openings therethrough, a

designation plate for connection to one side.

of the body, portions on the plate passed through the openings, one ofsaid portions having single opening means and the other a plurality ofopening means, and spring means engaged with the other side of the bodyand with the single opening means and with a selected one of thep'urality of opening means for non-removably connecting the designationplate to the body.

7. A body having openings therethrough, a designation plate forconnection to one side of the body, portions on the plate passed throughthe openings, one of said portions having single opening means and theother a plurality of opening means, and spring means engaged with theother side of the body and selected one of the plurality of openingmeans for non-removably connecting the designation plate to the body,said other portion of the designation plate having an extension thereoncontaining said plurality of opening means.

8. A body having openings therethrough, a designation plate forconnection to one side of the body, portions on the plate passed throughthe opening, one of said portions having single opening means and theother a pinrality of opening means, and spring means engaged with theother side of the body and with the single opening means and with aselected one of the plurality of opening means for non-removablyconnecting the designation plate to the body, said other portion of thedesignation plate having an extension thereon containing said pluralityof opening means, said extension lying in a plane generally parallel tothe designation plate.

9. A body having openings therethrough, a designation plate forconnection to one side of the body, portions on the plate passed throughthe opening, one of said portions having single opening means and theother a plurality of opening means, and spring means engaged with theother side of the body and with the single opening means and with aselected one of the plurality of opening means for non-removablyconnecting the designation plate to the body, said other portion of thedesignation plate having an extension thereon containing said pluralityof opening means, said extension lying in a plane generally parallel tothe designation plate, and spaced from the back of the body.

10. A license plate or the like comprising a plate having charactersthereon, openings in the plate adjacent one or more of the characters, acharacter plate having portions receivable through the openings so as topos1- tion the character plate in relation to the other characters, andspring means engaged with the back of the plate for engaging theportions of the character plate which are extended through the openings,for holding the character plate in place, and seal means nonremovablyconnecting the character plate and the spring means, said seal meanscomprising casing means receiving a portion of the spring means and aportion of the designation plate for holding them engaged with eachother.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

OLIVER H. ANDERSON.

with the single opening means and with a I

